Who impressed and who didn’t as Essendon outlasted Fremantle

Cerra's classy finish

The West Australian

Cerra's classy finish

VideoAdam Cerra kicks a goal for Fremantle against Essendon at Etihad Stadium.

Who impressed

Orazio Fantasia

Injuries have resulted in an in-and-out season for Fantasia, but when he’s been healthy, he’s been dangerous. Fantasia equalled his career-high tally with five silky goals, showing his inaccurate teammates where the big sticks were and torching the Dockers’ defenders with his fancy footwork.

Devon Smith

The GWS recruit had a quiet start, but his fingerprints were all over the Bombers’ strong finish. Smith had 23 touches, two goals, and added to his reputation as the club’s hardest worker with a game-high 10 tackles to put Freo to the sword.

Bailey Banfield

The first-year workhorse appears destined for a top-10 finish in the club’s Doig Medal voting - and might even start knocking on the door of the top five. Banfield quelled the influence of Zach Merrett for three quarters before the dangerous Don’s class prevailed late, while gathering plenty of the ball with 22 touches and six clearances of his own.

The ruckman would have licked his lips upon hearing the news Sean Darcy had pulled out. Bellchambers duly obliged, racking up his second-best hitout tally of 49 as he took Scott Jones to the cleaners and gave the Bombers plenty of first-use opportunities.

Michael Johnson

He’s been out of the senior side for almost two months, and it remained that way today until just 30 minutes before the bounce. But Johnson proved a handy very late inclusion at Darcy’s expense, booting two early goals and providing the forward target the Dockers have lacked at times this season.

Who didn’t

Cam McCarthy

He showed a pulse in the final term, but it was another quiet outing following last week’s recall. Will the form slump prompt another forward line reshuffle now that Freo’s finals hopes are officially shot?

Ed Langdon

The recent gulf between Langdon’s form at home and away has been large. Langdon’s past four matches at Optus Stadium have been immense, averaging more than 26 disposals, but the corresponding number drops to just 14 in his past four road games. He had just seven touches and no impact against the Bombers.

Andrew McGrath

The Rising Star winner hasn’t quite taken the step to the next level that the Bombers might have liked. McGrath failed to stick a couple of tackles and struggled to have an influence despite his team’s domination of possession.